The present invention relates to tobacco processing, and in particular, to a process for the manufacture of reconstituted tobacco materials.
Cigarettes are popular smoking articles which have a substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and include a charge of tobacco material surrounded by a wrapper, such as paper, thereby forming a so-called "tobacco rod." It has become desirable to manufacture a cigarette having a cylindrical filter aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, a filter includes cellulose acetate tow circumscribed by plug wrap, and is attached to the tobacco rod using a circumscribing tipping material. See, Baker, Prog. Ener. Combust. Sci., Vol. 7 pp. 135-153 (1981).
Typical cigarettes include blends of various tobaccos, such as the flue-cured, Burley, Maryland and Oriental tobaccos. Cigarette blends also can include certain amounts of processed tobacco materials (e.g., reconstituted tobacco materials). Reconstituted tobacco materials often are manufactured from tobacco stems, dust and scrap using papermaking processes. See, Tobacco Encyclopedia, edit. by Voges, pp. 389-390, TJI (1984). It is known to provide reconstituted tobacco materials by chemically treating an aqueous slurry of small pieces of tobacco material, and forming the slurry into a sheet which then is shredded into cut filler form. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,353,541 and 3,420,241 to Hind et al; b 3,386,449 to Hind; 3,760,815 to Deszyck; 4,421,126 to Gellatly and 4,674,519 to Keritsis et al.
It would be desirable to provide a process for the efficient and effective manufacture of a reconstituted tobacco material having good physical characteristics and good smoking quality.